Dear Rabbi Kornfeld Shlita
Thank you for all the insights that I am receiving everyday - they are coming into very good use!
21B Concerning your Kasher on the din of R' Yitzchok of how do we know that the owner gave up hope. The Gemorah in 25B says that even if a person puts his name on a coin it doesnt help even though he has a simon.
We see that nothing in the world helps when money is lost since here he has a Simon and surely he didnt give up hope at once???
Please reply asap. Thank you so much!!
Kol Tuv! Reb Simcha Cohen (Gateshead)
The fact that a coin normally has no Siman does not necessarily mean that the owner was Me'ya'esh. We see from the Gemara on 26b that only when a person loses a coin in the sand is it considered completely lost from him and he is certainly Me'ya'esh (even if his actions, such as searching for the coin, indicates otherwise).
Similarly, the Gemara there (26b) discusses two people walking together and one drops a coin. He is not Me'ya'esh because he thinks his friend found it and is just hiding it from him.
It is also possible that even something that has no Siman whatsoever can still be claimed by the person who lost it -- such as when the owner brings Edim that it was his (and since he was relying on his witnesses, he was not Me'ya'esh). (Rashi 37b, DH v'Im Natal)
M. Kornfeld
MK:ys